Classic Porsche- Perfection, Perfected

Classic Porsche Magazine, June 2017

Bruce Canepa’s 763hp 959 proves that 30-year-old Porsche engineering still has the mechanical muscle to keep up with its modern counterparts.

Words by Alex Short

Photos by Zach Todd

Built using Le Mans-proven technology, developed
on the worldʼs toughest rally stages and designed
to showcase Zuffenhausenʼs engineering
prowess, the 959 is rightly considered one of the
most desirable 911s on the planet. A car which
captured the imagination of the 292 lucky owners
of the roadgoing version, and a modern classic which now
rarely changes hands 30 years later.

This was one of the worldʼs first true hypercars for the
road. Its electronically-controlled four-wheel drive, height adjusting
suspension and state-of-the-art sequential
turbocharging system offered blistering pace. It could reach
62mph in less than four seconds, could grip almost any
surface and reach a top speed of up to 317kph for the most
performance-focused ʻSʼ version. Attributes which might
make you wonder what this engineering masterpiece could
achieve using todayʼs technology.

With so few cars built, the 959ʼs stratospheric value and
collector status means modified versions are incredibly rare.
But this particular car – the third generation of upgraded 959
developed by world-famous collector and enthusiast Bruce
Canepa and his team in California – offers a rare glimpse of
how far the factory-built versions were from the limits of their
mechanical parts.

Modifying the 959 hadnʼt been a choice – for Canepa, it
had been a necessary move. Porsche had never developed
its engineering flagship for the United States market, and had
never officially imported it either. So the 959 not only couldnʼt
meet the Environmental Protection Agencyʼs stricter
emissions limits, but it was also never offered for crash
testing. For American buyers who were lucky enough to be
among the 292 first customers, the worldʼs fastest
performance car was nothing more than a display piece.

This changed when, in 1999, the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration offered an exemption for historically or
technologically significant vehicles. The ʻShow and Displayʼ
rule meant eligible cars – including the 959 – could be
brought into the United States under strict mileage limits if they could meet period-correct emissions limits. The result of
years of campaigning by enthusiasts, including Canepa, the
ruling opened the doors for a huge selection of cars which
had never before been available in the USA.

But, by the turn of the Millennium, what had once been
Porscheʼs most
advanced car was starting to lag behind its modern counterparts.
Porsche had a four wheel drive 996 Turbo by that point, producing almost as much power as the 959, and the Carrera GT
prototype was only months away from its Paris motor show
debut. Canepa may have been relieved to finally unleash
his car on US soil, but reprogramming the ECU for the
catalytic converter required to pass the EPAʼs requirements
had shown that there was potential to continue what
Porsche had started 15 years previously.

Motorsport-derived engineering is a good starting point.
The 959ʼs 2.85-litre engine had been developed from the
water-cooled flat-six used in the 935/78 Le Mans car, the
ultra-aerodynamic ʻMoby Dickʼ prototype racer, which had
been built to set records at
Le Mans. But, where the
older turbocharged 935s
had suffered vicious,
flame-spitting lag, the
959ʼs sequential turbo
setup had been designed
to deliver its 450bhp output
far more progressively.
That endurance-bred
background and the
ferocious performance of
scores of racing 935s suggested that the engine could
handle considerably more power, and Canepaʼs gen I
package delivered. Launched in 2001, it produced 576hp, a
figure which was in excess of Porscheʼs own Carrera GT
prototype shown a year previously, and it could pass the EPAʼs emissions tests. This was quickly followed by the gen
II, its 640bhp again beating any factory-built cars at the time.
And Canepa wasnʼt finished.

To the untrained eye, itʼs almost impossible to spot the
differences between this, the 2016 gen III car, and a standard
959. Yet, beneath its curves of Kevlar and pressed
aluminium, this is absolutely the modern re-imagining of what
Porscheʼs masterpiece could have evolved into.

Under the decklid, the flat-six engine still displaces 2.85-
litres, but thereʼs almost no trace of 1980s technology found
bolted to it. The flat-six is fully rebuilt using blueprinted parts
for perfect balance, while the cam timing is optimised for
additional boost. State-of-the-art engine management, paired
with a wiring harness built to Formula 1 standards, controls
an upgraded fuel system and high-output ignition, and the
alternator and battery have been replaced with motorsport grade
items, too.

Itʼs an investment in reliability for the additional power itʼs
now tasked with putting out. Canepaʼs team have deleted the
sequential turbo setup, the gen III using a pair of identical
Borg-Warner units instead, each supplied with air by a large,
bespoke-built Green filter and connected to a custom-made
stainless-steel exhaust system. With the dashboard controlled
bypass opened, thatʼs enough to produce 763bhp and 860Nm torque – serious power for a car which, by
modern standards, is incredibly light.

Yet itʼs done little to upset the coupeʼs ability to launch, or
to tackle the winding roads that it was engineered for.
Porsche had developed the 959ʼs driveline from the four wheel
drive system in the Type 953, used by the Rothmans
team to win the 1984 Paris-Dakar, but had moved to
computer control by that point. It means the Gen III is always
capable of deploying that explosive power whichever part of
the road has most grip. While the extra power required an
uprated clutch, the driveline has proved itʼs more than
capable of handling the strain of prototype-level performance.

Some of the complexity has been lost from the chassis.
The 959 had originally used height-adjustable suspension,
which lowered the body at high speeds for additional
aerodynamics. Canepa and the team opted to move to the
same setup as the 959S and 961 racing car, namely a fixed height
coil-over package with lightweight titanium springs.

Owners also get a much wider choice of tyres. Porsche
had partnered with Dunlop to develop the wheels and tyres
for the 959, and the unique ʻDenlocʼ bead design was used to
hold some of the worldʼs first run-flat tyres to the hollow spoked
magnesium-alloy rims. While itʼs an invisible
modification without removing the tyre, the gen IIIʼs Z-rated
Michelin Pilot Sport 3s required re-engineering of all four
wheels to seat them properly, but with the advantage that
future generations of high-performance rubber will always
work with the car.

This is, however, a sympathetic update of Porscheʼs
original design. That unmistakable silhouette is untouched, preserved and almost identical to the 1983 Grüppe ß concept
car that previewed the production version. Canepaʼs
upgrades extend to a luxurious interior makeover, with handcut
carpets, mottled brown leather trim and a modern CD
player mixing with the classic VDO gauges and four-spoke
steering wheel. Again, a hint of what Porsche would have
provided in a 2016-spec 959.

Ironically, in the years since Canepa helped ensure that
American drivers could import the 959, even the latest
versions are older than 25 years and no longer require the
exemption which brought the first cars across the Atlantic.

But, as unlikely as it might sound, perhaps we should be
thankful for those early restrictions. Porsche might have
spawned a legend with its world-beating engineering marvel,
but legislation forced innovation which, with an eye for quality
and detail, has shown that this modern-day icon can still
take on todayʼs supercars. If, of course, youʼre lucky enough
to own one. CP